2018 is overlooked as a great movie year. I’m sure it’s because it’s sandwiched between two years that are well-known as outstanding years in film, as 2017 and 2019 boasted big releases from many of the film industry’s biggest names. But looking back at it, 2018 was a hugely successful bridge year stacked with deep genre cuts and debuts/breakthroughs by figures that are now staples within the industry.
And perhaps 2018 is also overlooked because of the anti-climactic, obnoxiously dull awards season race that largely featured two movies that will not be featured anywhere near the following list of my favorites. Green Book and Bohemian Rhapsody dominated the long campaign, and it puts a damper on an otherwise exciting, unique, and eclectic set of films that span quite a wide variety of tastes and sensibilities.
Among the movies listed below are debuts from a handful of critically acclaimed masters of the medium, a couple re-imaginings of what superhero movies could be, and a handful of the best horror films released this century. It was a deep year for movies, which is why I’ve expanded this retrospective from the usual 20-25 movies into 30.
As always, I can’t see everything, and even though I saw a lot of movies in 2018 – and even more since – there’s always something new to discover. For that reason, I reserve the right to return and update this list in the future. For now, I feel pretty confident in these choices. But before we begin, the movies I hope to see in the future (but haven’t yet, unfortunately) include: Shadows, Skin, Backstabbing for Beginners, Beautiful Boy, Crazy Rich Asians, Mandy, A Simple Favor, Vice, Searching, Bad Times at the El Royale, Christopher Robin, Overlord, Blockers, The Mule, Unsane, Her Smell, Dragged Across Concrete, Hearts Beat Loud, and Madeline’s Madeline. I hope to see you all, and maybe even review a few.
But for now, lets focus on what I have seen. Here’s the best movies of 2018, ranked:
30. Upgrade
29. Climax
28. Deadpool 2
27. Leave No Trace
26. If Beale Street Could Talk
25. In Fabric
In Fabric shows exactly the kind of filmmaker that Peter Strickland can be. He’s not ashamed to wear his influences on his sleeves, but that’s not always a terrible thing. He molds his own style to the style of Giallo movies effortlessly, as if he’s always had this vision in his head. A delightful A24 surprise.
24. Black Panther
23. A Quiet Place
22. Incredibles 2
Incredibles 2 is about as action packed, well-conceived, and carefully executed as sequels can get in the superhero (and animated) genre. Brad Bird and Pixar Studios manage to inject new life into a world we haven’t visited in well over a decade.
21. Creed II
Despite being a bit more obvious in approach than the first, Creed II capitalizes on the emotional pieces set up in the previous installments. Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, and Tessa Thompson show vulnerable sides that carry this movie to a satisfyingly climactic fight.
20. Avengers: Infinity War
19. Shoplifters
18. Isle of Dogs
Viewed as a standalone animated feature, Isle of Dogs is a unique, thoughtful piece that few filmmakers besides Wes Anderson could have envisioned, let alone executed. But graded on the curve of Anderson’s own career, it feels minor. It lacks the emotional punch of The Royal Tenenbaums, the elegance of The Grand Budapest Hotel, and even the narrative focus of later entries like Asteroid City or The Phoenician Scheme.
17. High Life
16. Wildlife
15. BlacKkKlansman
14. Minding the Gap
13. Under the Silver Lake
12. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
11. The Favourite
The Favourite sees director Yorgos Lanthimos recontextualizing 18th-century British royalty. A searing dark comedy featuring many of 2018s’s best performances, including Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, and Rachel Weisz.
10. Annihilation
9. A Star is Born
8. First Reformed
7. First Man
6. Suspiria
5. Widows
4. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
3. Hereditary
Hereditary is the rare debut that instantly reshapes a genre. Ari Aster’s 2018 feature moves with an icy confidence, turning domestic grief into occult nightmare, and it still feels like a defining horror film of the century. Backed by A24, the film has the precision and patience of a masterwork: long takes that corner you in the frame, sound design that hums with unease, and edits that withhold just enough to make every cut feel like a trapdoor.
2. Burning
Every time I revisit Burning, it feels more precise. In 2018 it played like a film about alienation and class and masculine rage disguised as longing. Nearly a decade later, it feels just as current, maybe even more so because the world has only gotten noisier and the gap between certainty and truth has only widened. It’s one of the most timely films of the 2010s, and it might also be timeless, which is the more unsettling compliment.
1. Mission: Impossible – Fallout
Mission: Impossible – Fallout isn’t just the high point of its own franchise—it’s a modern action masterpiece, arguably one of the greatest action films ever made. As the sixth installment in the Mission: Impossible series, Fallout takes everything that made the previous films thrilling and dials it up to a level that almost feels physically exhausting—in the best possible way.
READ MORE: Best Movies of 2020, Best Movies of 2021, Best Movies of 2022
